Guardiola rules out Man City signings despite Aguero absence continuing

Pep Guardiola has ruled out Manchester City delving into the transfer market with Sergio Aguero to again be absent when they host Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Aguero has made just five Premier League appearances this season and has missed City’s past three games in all competitions while in self-isolation despite testing negative for COVID-19.

Guardiola has used Gabriel Jesus, Kevin De Bruyne and Ferran Torres in the central attacking role during the Argentina international’s absence but is not interested in bringing in further options.

The City boss simply replied “no” when asked if the club could look to bolster their options in January after he confirmed Aguero would not return to face Villa.

“He is not ready for tomorrow. He is still isolating,” Guardiola said at a news conference on Tuesday.

“We need Aguero, we miss him. The numbers speak for themselves. He’s the best striker in our history.

“He can win games by himself and for a long time he has not been with us, but we have not sat here complaining. We moved forward with the players that we have and found alternatives.”

A @aguerosergiokun Head 2 Head special, but which one of these two big goals gets your ?

#ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re

— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 19, 2021

Aymeric Laporte has not been part of a matchday squad for City since December 26 but Guardiola confirmed he is nearing a return from a thigh injury.

However, with Ruben Dias and John Stones having developed an incredible centre-back partnership, the City boss warned Laporte it will not be easy for him to regain his spot.

“He is at the last step. He is not ready for tomorrow, but he is training with us. Yesterday was the first one, today was the second,” said Guardiola.

“Hopefully [back to face Cheltenham Town on Saturday]. That would be good news. We need him. We cannot play with just Stones and Ruben. We need Nathan [Ake], we need Eric [Garcia], we need Laporte.

“It depends on him [whether he can get into the starting line-up]. The quality is there so if he is in top form and his mind is open he is the best left-sided centre-back.

“He has special qualities on the ball. He has to be focused to come back as best as possible and he will have the minutes. Being in the team or not depends on the performance of everyone.”

In the eight Premier League games Stones and Dias have started together, City have dropped just two points and conceded a single goal.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Rúben Gato Dias (@rubendias)

In the nine matches where either one of them has not started, they have conceded 12 at an average of 1.3 per game.

No Premier League defender has been involved in more clean sheets (eight) or has a superior passing accuracy (93.4 per cent) than Dias, whose 78.3 successful passes per 90 minutes are only bettered by Thiago Silva (83.8).

On Dias, Guardiola said: “We knew his quality on the pitch, we knew a bit his personality but we have been impressed at the consistency, being ready mentally and physically to play every three days.

“You always expect the best but we are more than delighted with what he has given to the team.

“[His impact] has been massive, not just with John. He has the ability to live every single action, always concentrated on what he has to do and helping his team-mates. It is not easy to find that in someone who is 23 years old.”